A former employee of Ohio University has been arrested and charged with making serious, violent statements threatening to shoot people in two university buildings last Wednesday.
Mark Hopton, former assistant vice president of university Business Services at Ohio University, told a current university employee over the phone he was “angry enough to shoot people in the HDL Center and HR Center” and that he had loaded guns, according to a statement from the university.
Ohio University Police Chief Andrew Powers said after they were notified of the threat by the current employee they immediately secured the two buildings to protect the university workers and students who were in the area.
The university police then obtained search and arrest warrants, with the help of the Athens County Police Department, and took Hopton into custody on Wednesday night, according to the statement.
Powers said they seized a total of 14 firearms from Hopton’s house. He added none of the guns were loaded at the time of Hopton’s arrest.
According to the statement, Hopton was arrested without incident and was released Wednesday night after posting $10,000 in bail.
Hopton has been charged with making a terroristic threat, which is a third degree felony, Powers said.
Powers said the two buildings identified in the threat, the Human Resource Center and the HDL center, are primarily administrative buildings and have only a small student presence inside.
Hopton was notified his position, which oversaw shared services for the university, was being eliminated on April 1, according to the statement. His last work day was June 30.
Powers said he could not comment on Hopton’s motivation for making the threat because it would just speculative at this point.
The university police are still taking safety measures to protect the two buildings identified in the threat, Powers said.
“We are continuing to take the precautions we need to too protect the staff members who work in the buildings,” Powers said.
The added police protection is causing minimal disruption for the university employees who work in the buildings, according to the statement.
Hopton’s initial court appearance will be Nov. 5.
